one opinion:
Ryan Craig, higher education is currently LinkedIn’s “single largest vertical.” Craig, author of the 2015 book College Disrupted: The Great Unbundling of Higher Education and founding managing director of University Ventures, a fund that invests in post-secondary education companies through partnerships with traditional colleges and universities, said that the paid marketing on LinkedIn done by higher ed is the largest industry-specific source of marketing revenue the company generates.

“You can identify education and training opportunities to remediate gaps between where you are and what the job description says you need to have to qualify. So all the pieces are there,” he said. “Currently, it’s still early, but you can see where this is going. We think that is the story of the next decade in higher education.”

Craig believes this kind of activity is putting pressure on colleges and universities to “unbundle” their degrees and create educational packages that are “shorter, less expensive and more clearly connected to careers or even specific employers.”

another opinion:

the non-traditional students that currently dominate the education landscape. “These students are the ones who have come to expect more informal learning events that are driven by their immediate needs and immediate preferences,” she said. LinkedIn will continue to act as a “hub” where these people can share their skills and companies can seek them out, with institutions offering the services that can bridge the gap that exists between the two groups.